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Results tagged ‘ Lisa Winston ’

Hello, and Happy New Year. I hope that the just-concluded Holiday Season served as a much needed chance for rest and respite, because now we’re all right back in the thick of things. As if we never left.

But judging by the deserted state of the MiLB.com headquarters, it was rather unnecessary for me to come into work today. There are no other people here, or any other living things save for the occasional squirrel. But that’s okay with me. I thrive in solitude.

In keeping up with current events, the Peoria Chiefs have announced
they will auction off not one, but two special “Senate Seats” to each
home game for the upcoming 2009 season. Just as the United States
Senate Seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama is viewed as the
best opening in the Senate, the “Senate Seats” will be the two best
seats in the house for Chiefs games.

The seats, which are located in
the second row of section 108, are directly behind home plate and
protected by the screen sell for $10 per game. They will be available
via auction on the Chiefs website beginning Feb. 1. The auctions will
end 24 hours prior to each home game and begin at $20. All proceeds
from the “Senate Seat Auctions” will go into a pot which will be
distributed at the end the season among various local charities.

Moving on, I must commend my colleague Lisa Winston for using her finely-honed journalism skills to

decipher one of the more mysterious ballplayer utterances of all-time. On Dec. 19, Lisa ran an interview with Tigers prospect Casper Wells on her blog. In response to the question “What is the best Minor League promotion or visiting act you have ever seen?”, Wells replied that he liked “the monkey guy with the floating thing.”

No one could figure out what Wells was talking about, and it caused a many a sleepless night for those who care about such things. So Lisa dug a little deeper, and was able to solve the mystery. Read all about it here.

And, finally, because I must operate in threes — At 11 p.m. EST on January 14th I will be a guest on the weekly Minor League Baseball Radio Show. I’ll post more specific info on this in the near future, but mark your calendars now. It’s not like they were going to stay all new and shiny much longer anyway.

I consider logos and uniforms to be part of the Ben’s Biz Blog beat, and when it comes to that area of my expertise there is much to report.

Yet, I keep putting it off. My heart is not into it. It’s sort of like when you listen to the same album over and over, to the point where you get sick of it. Some distance is then needed, so that the album’s pleasures may reveal themselves yet again.

Yes, that’s how I feel about logos right now. Distance is needed. Therefore, I shall instead bring you up to speed on a variety of other important matters. Such as these:

The Wranglers will unveil special new vintage prison uniforms, complete
with horizontal black and white stripes. Each player will also have his
own prison number assigned to him, and as if all that wasn’t enough, now for
the piece de resistance.

There will be an open seat between the player’s benches that will be
auctioned off to the highest bidder, a la Obama’s vacant seat in the
Senate. (NBCChicago.com)

Congratulations to the Wranglers for coming up with this, but it always pains me when such promotion-worthy scandals occur in the dead of winter. In order to establish their dominance over the rest of the sporting world, baseball teams should stage “ripped-from-the-headlines” promotions in the offseason as well. When it comes to such gimmickry, the idea results in far more publicity than the execution.

– My MiLB.com colleague Lisa Winston has an article on the site today that is well worth reading. Entitled “Trying Times”, it hammers home the point that Minor League ballplayers often have to deal with precarious financial situations. Many of the people reading this blog are already aware of this, but its always good to be reminded that the majority of people who play sports for a living are far from wealthy.

Somewhat on topic, I’d highly recommend reading Steve Fireovid’s “The 26th Man” It provides a lot of insight into the day-to-day hardships associated with simultaneously being a Minor Leaguer and a family man. And, please, never hesitate to get in touch with Minor League Baseball book recommendations:

benjamin.hill@mlb.com

– Finally, many of you may remember this post of just two days ago, in which I went up on my soapbox in order to tout the innovation and resiliency of the Minor Leagues in tough economic times. Well, today this press release caught my eye*, in which the Missoula Osprey mentioned that all season ticket holders will receive a free “popcorn and a pop” at each game. Now, this in and of itself is a very small news item. But, it is indicative of the sort of promotion that will become more and more “pop”ular as teams seek to lure fans through the turnstiles during these tough economic times.

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